Reed for woodwind instruments and method of manufacture



United States Patent 3,340,759 REED FOR WOODWIND INSTRUMENTS AND METHODOF MANUFACTURE Franklin J. Petzke, 710 N. 1st St., Phoenix, Ariz. 85004No Drawing. Filed Nov. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 408,362 4 Claims. (Cl. 84-383)This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationSer. No. 364,268, filed May 1, 1964.

This invention relates to improved reeds for woodwind instruments, moreparticularly to such reeds which have substantially improved resistanceto moisture absorption and chemical or bacterial degradation. In afurther aspect the invention concerns methods of manufacturing reeds forWoodwind musical instruments and methods for increasing the playing lifeof normally porous natural cane reeds for such instruments.

At present, the only reeds for woodwind musical instruments which areacceptable and satisfactory for use in high-quality professionalperformances are the reeds made from natural cane. However, thesenatural cane reeds are accepted by skilled professional musicians onlybecause they happen to be the best reeds presently available. Thesereeds are subject to a number of well-known undesirable traits anddefects such as the need for conditioning by wetting or moistening thetip each time before they are used and before they are satisfactory forplaying purposes, the fact that they eventually become water-logged fromsaliva, the fact that the cellular structure of the cane reed isdegraded, either from action of the moisture and the acids carried bysaliva, from the growth of micro-organisms carried by the saliva, andplugging of the ducts and interstices of the reed by sa-lts, etc.,carried by the saliva which form hard deposits when the reed dries.

The aforesaid disadvantages of natural cane reeds have prompted a numberof suggestions in the art for correcting such defects ranging fromvarious methods of treating the natural cane reeds, e.g., US. 1,776,566,US 1,790,- 167, substituting for the cane reed a metal reed (US.1,133,868), a fibreglass reinforced plastic reed (US. 2,919,617), orspecially shaped all-plastic reeds (US. 2,230,933, US. 2,296,737, US.2,374,579, and US. 1,770,966). A particularly complete and detaileddescription of the problems associated with the use and manufacture ofnatural cane reeds is found in the US. Patent 2,230,933 mentionedhereinabove.

Although as indicated by the above listed US. patents, many attemptshave been made to remedy the defects of natural cane reeds by specialtreatments or by substituting another material for the natural cane usedin manufacturing the reeds, none of such treated or artificial reedsheretofore known or presently available are satisfactory for use in highquality professional performances, the use of reeds made of substancesother than natural cane being almost'wholly limited to beginningstudents and where the quality of the tone produced by such reeds is notso important as in the case of professional performances. The naturalcane reeds which have been artificially treated in an attempt to remedysome of the aforementioned defects are especially disappointing from anaesthetic standpoint since these treatments generally either areineffective for the purposes sought or result in ruining the subtletonal qualities of the instrument in which the reed is employed.

I have now discovered that the aforementioned undesirable traits ofnatural cane woodwind reeds are remedied to a substantial extent in anew article of manufacture which I have invented comprising a normallyporous natural cane woodwind reed impregnated with a cured plastisolwhereby said reed is rendered substantially more resistant to moistureadsorption, chemical or bacterial degradation and the accumulation ofsolid deposits in the vascular ducts of the reed. Advantageously, theplastisol is disposed only within the pores of the reed so as to presentexposed surfaces of natural cane, thus avoiding the formation of ajacket or coating upon the natural cane reed which materially interfereswith the vibrational properties of the reed. It is also advantageous andtherefore preferable that the plastisol substantially fill the pores ofthe reed adjacent to the surfaces thereof, thereby substantially sealingthe pores and contributing, along with the longitudinal grain ribs ofthe reed, to the mechanical strength and integrity of the reed.

I have also now discovered that the properties of the plastisolimpregnated reeds aforedescribed can be even further improved bytreatment with a mineral oil containing a suitable wax sealant to sealthe very small interstices which do not readily admit to sealing by theplastisol.

The novel reeds of my invention are manufactured by a method comprisingimpregnating the surfaces of a normally porous can woodwind reed with aplastisol to dispose the plastisol within the pores in said surfaces,carefully removing the plastisol from the surfaces of said reed andcuring the plastisol dispersed within the pores. Advantageously, inorder to increase the extent of penetration of the plastisol into theducts of natural cane reed, the reed is first dried, for example at anelevated temperature, suitably in the range of about 212 F. for a lengthof time, suitably upwards of about 15 minutes, to remove a major portionof the naturally occurring moisture found in natural cane reeds. Afterthe reed is dried, the shaved or playing end is coated with an excess ofplastisol and external pressure is applied to force the plastisol intothe pores and interstices of the reed. Preferably this is accomplishedby disposing the reed on a flat bearing surface and applying pressurethrough mechanical means such as by troweling or rolling to force theplastisol into the interstices of the reed. In another embodiment of theinvention, I dry the natural cane reed by heating to a temperature ofabout 212 F. for about 15 minutes and thereafter place the dried reed inan evacuated chamber wherein a pressure of about 1 p.s.i.a. ismaintained above a vat of the plastisol. After exposure to the vacuumfor a length of time sutficient to remove a substantial amount of airfrom the surface pores and interstices of the reed, for example, upwardsof about 5 minutes, the dried evacuated reed is thereupon lowered intothe plastisol bath and the vacuum above the bath is broken and asuperatmospheric pressure of for example up to about p.s.i.g. ismaintained above the surface of the plastisol bath for a length of timesufficient to drive a substantial amount of the plastisol into the ductsand interstices of the reed, for example'upwards of about 10 minutes orlonger. In general, in order to prevent undue coagulation oragglomeration of the plastisol particles prior to entering the pores ofthe reed, it is preferred to employ somewhat lower pressures, e.g. about2550 p.s.i.g., and, correspondingly, somewhat longer immersion times,e.g. upwards of 30-60 minutes. After the impregnation of the reed withthe uncured plastisol is accomplished by troweling, rolling or by thevacuum-immersion-pressure steps set forth above, any excess plastisoladhering to the exposed surfaces of the reed is carefully removed, forexample by careful wiping with a rubber squeege so as to prevent theformation of a coating on the exterior surfaces of the reed. Theplastisol-treated reed is then heated to a temperature sufficient tocure the plastisol, for example, upwards of about 350-375 F. for about5-7 minutes when the plastisol employed is the preferred plastisolhereinafter described. As will be appreciated by those skilled in theart the aforementioned specific temperatures, times, etc., can be variedconsiderably without materially affecting the end result by makingproper adjustments in other variables. For example, the length of timethat the reed is immersed in the plastisol bath can be materiallyshortened by employing even higher pressures than above specified ifcoagulation or agglomeration of the plastisol is avoided. Also the exactdrying time, drying temperature, immersion time, immersion pressure,etc., will vary somewhat depending on the particular variety of naturalcane employed to fabricate the basic reed and the curing time andtemperature will vary somewhat depending upon the particular plastisolemployed.

As mentioned above, the moisture absorption and chemical and bacterialresistance of the treated reeds can be even further improved by treatingthe plastisol impregnated reed (after the plastisol curing step) with asuitable wax sealant. This treatment is advantageous and commerciallypreferred as the reed often contains almost microscopic-sizeimperfections or interstices, particularly in the shaved or playing end,which permit a slow but nevertheless significant absorption of salivamoisture. These microscopic interstices are more difficult to fill andseal with plastisols than the relatively larger pores corresponding tothe vascular ducts of the reed.

For application, I dissolve the wax sealant in a suitable oil, such as amineral oil which will not support bacterial growth. The oil should benon-toxic, non-odiferous, have a relatively low surface tension andshould contain or be compounded to contain a significant proportion of asuitable wax for sealing purposes. All factors considered, I have foundthat oils known as white oils are admirably suitable, particularly onesuch as No. 9 white oil U.S.P. or N.F. Such oils and high qualityparaffin waxes such as that commercially available under the trade nameAristowax (trademark of Union Oil Company) or other mineral waxes ofClassification XIV are generally mutually soluble and can be formulatedto obtain optimum sealing and penetrating properties. Advisably, suchformulations should also contain a non-toxic antioxidant such astocopherol (vitamin E.)

In practice I place the reed impregnated with cured plastisol in anevacuated chamber (eg. 1 p.s.i.a.) to remove air from the microscopicinterstices, immerse the evacuated reeds in a bath of the paraffin oiland then apply a superatmospheric pressure, e.g. up to 150-300 -p.s.i.g.to the surface of the oil, to force the oil into the microscopicinterstices and seal them against moisture absorption. Subsequently theoil treated reeds are removed from the bath and carefully cleaned of anyexcess adhering oil and wax so as to expose only a. natural cane playingsurface.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the primaryimprovement of natural cane reeds is obtained by the plastisol treatmenthereabove described and that the oil-wax treatment, althoughadvantageous, is optional. The oil treatment can be completely omittedand yet the reeds impregnated only with cured plastisol will besignificantly improved compared to ordinary natural cane reed.

The closest prior art of which I am presently aware is the Newton patent(U.S. 1,776,5 66) wherein the patentee discloses the impregnation of anatural cane reed with a solution of cellulose, preferablynitrocellulose, in a solvent such as acetic ether. However, the methoddescribed in the Newton patent is to be clearly distinguished from thepresent method in that the nitrocellulose solution employed by Newton isextremely viscous and therefore unable to penetrate any significantdistance into even the major pores of the cane. Furthermore, upondrying, the

nitrocellulose is subject to a shrinkage of as much as 50% or more whichreduces the efiicacy of the treatment as a method of sealing to preventmoisture absorption; such reeds absorb water practically as fast as theuntreated natural cane reeds. Furthermore, the nitrocellulose solutions,upon drying, become rather hard and brittle which detracts seriouslyfrom the playing quality of the reeds and contributes little, ifanything, to the mechanical strength and integrity of the reed. Also,very significantly, the Newton patent envisages forming a coating orshell of nitrocellulose around the reed which seriously impairs itstonal qualities.

By contrast, I employ as the impregnating agent a plastisol having ashrinkage when cured of less than 10%, desirably and advantageously lessthan about 2%. These substances, when cured, are resilient and yetcontribute materially to improving the homogeneity and the mechanicalstrength and integrity of the reed by supplementing the naturallongitudinal grain ribs and cross fibers of the reed and also preventingcracking, splitting, fraying of the tip, etc.

As used herein the term plastisol means a dispersion and intimatemixture of a synthetic resin and a liquid plasticizer, advisablycontaining appropriate stabilizers. These plastisols are practicallytotal solids materials. Thus, there are no solvents or diluents to beevaporated and cause shrinkage problems. The only treatment required tocure such materials is heating for a period sufficient to bring theentire mass to the temperature at which fusion takes place, at whichtime the plasticiser is driven into the resin particle to form a tough,flexible, elastomeric homogeneous product which exhibits excellentchemical resistance and mechanical strength properties. At the presenttime the vinyl plastisols, particularly the polyvinylchlorideplastisols, are particularly preferred. For example, such a plastisol iscommercially available under the trade name Ameran (a product ofAmerican Anode Division of B. F. Goodrich Company), particularly thoseidentified as LA-32 and LA-78. These plastisols have the following rangeof properties:

Tensile strength (p.s.i.) 2500-4000 Percent elongation 350-500 ShoreDurometer A hardness 55-90 Modulus at 100% elongation (p.s.i.) 1000-1800A particularly surprising and advantageous result accruing from themethod of manufacturing set out and disclosed herein is that the reed soproduced has a tone which is more brilliant and penetrating than thetone produced by such reeds which have not been treated according to mymethod. These treated reeds are particularly preferred for the renditionof music by concert, martial or dance bands where such brilliance isdesired. However, this difference in tonal brilliance is not so markedas to render the treated reeds completely unsuitable for more sedatetypes of music whether chamber or symphonic music.

Having described my invention and the preferred embodiments thereof, Iclaim:

1. A new article of manufacture comprising a normally porous naturalcane woodwind reed having exposed surfaces of natural cane and having acured vinyl plastisol disposed within and substantially filling thepores adjacent the surfaces thereof thereby substantially sealing saidpores and reducing moisture absorption to provide a reed of materiallyincreased playing life.

2. A new article of manufacture comprising a normally porous naturalcane woodwind reed having a cured plastisol disposed within the poresthereof to substantially seal said pores thereby materially increasingthe playing life of said reed.

3. Article of claim 2 wherein the microscopic interstices are sealedwith a wax sealant.

4. A new article of manufacture comprising a normally 5 porous naturalcane Woodwind reed having exposed surfaces of natural cane and having acured vinyl plastisol disposed within and substantially filling thepores adjacent the surfaces thereof thereby substantially sealing saidpores and a wax sealant sealingly disposed within microscopicinterstices of the reed which plastisol and Wax substantially reducemoisture absorption to provide a reed of materially increased playinglife.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,776,566 9/1930 Newton et al84-383 1,790,167 1/1931 Ogilvie 84-383 2,072,054 2/1937 Larsen 84-383RICHARD B. WILKINSON, Primary Examiner, C. M. OVERBEY, Examiner.

1. A NEW ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE COMPRISING A NORMALLY POROUS NATURALCANE WOODWIND REED HAVING EXPOSED SURFACES OF NATURAL CANE AND HAVING ACURED VINYL PLASTISOL DISPOSED WITHIN AND SUBSTANTIALLY FILLING THEPORES ADJACENT THE SURFACES THEREOF THEREBY SUBSTANTIALLY SEALING SAIDPORES AND REDUCING MOISTURE ABSORPTION TO PROVIDE A REED OF MATERIALLYINCREASED PLAYING LIFE.